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Thursday, May 4, 2017

Pandemic: Iberia Review

Pandemic Iberia is a cooperative game in the Pandemic line of games. In Pandemic Iberia, you take four actions (ex. move, pick up disease cubes, build research station, build railways, etc.) then draw two cards from the player deck and draw cards from the infection deck equal to the current infection rate. You win the game by researching all four diseases, you do that by collecting 5 cards of the infected color and turning them in to a research station. There are several different ways to lose: run out of cubes in any color, have 8 outbreaks, or run out of cards in the player deck. Pandemic Iberia is different from Pandemic in that it has regions that you can place Purification tokens, there are railways that can be built, you can travel from port to port city, and you are researching disease not curing them.

Amber's Thoughts:Favorite Number To Play With: 2-4 players. I have not played with 5.

Favorite Character And Why: I like the Railway Man and Sailor. I find the Railway Man and Sailor are very valuable because they help you get around the map easily and fast and they can both carry another pawn.

Least Favorite Character And Why: Right off the Politician Character because the special sucked of giving cards from the discard pile when the sailor was in play and could go port to port, but I am sure he will be helpful in other games.

Mechanics I Like And Dislike: There are MANY new things I like compared to the original Pandemic: the ease of moving, the diseases have names, purification tokens, and each disease can have a different effect when in outbreaks. Now to the why: Movement took SO much of your actions or I didn't want to waste a card in the original Pandemic and in Iberia laying down railroad, going port to port, or as normal walking just makes me feel like my turn is better. The disease have names! And they are historically accurate which is so cool! The purification tokens are awesome because there are many times you don't want to leave an area to go turn in or meet up to get a card due to the fact there might be an outbreak and then trying to move back you can't get there fast enough. BUT now you can lay down a few purification tokens and not worry about it as much. I think the added disease cards are great because they can keep the game fresh and increase the difficulty.Favorite Art Or Pieces: I think the little railroad pieces are cool and the historical feel of the map and character cards is awesome.

Strategies: Not much has changed in this from the original Pandemic. But here is the strategy I like- read everyone's character special first to find out how to best utilize them, then go to where there are 2+ cubes or where you can trade cards with someone, try and get the disease researched/cured as soon as possible, lay down railroads to help move faster, and remember it is a game, the world is NOT really relying on you to save it.First thoughts: I love the moving from one port city to another and railways, learned the hard way that the strategy of connecting rail ways to the hospitals is not smart because we started getting a lot of people "coming to be treated" and that wasn't good.Overall Ilove this Pandemic more than the original and I am glad it is the copy my husband and I own.

8 out of 10 Stars

Shannon's Thoughts:

Favorite Number To Play With: Cooperative games like these always seem to be easier with 2 people, because there are only 2 people to go through all the cards and collect them instead of 4, and you just get things done quicker.

Favorite Character And Why: The Nurse. I like keeping a region from gaining any cubes when I can. I also like the Politician. Knowing that we can discard colors and still be able to get them back later is nice for set collecting, especially in a two player game.

Least Favorite Character And Why: I have played twice as the Railwayman and I just don't enjoy laying down the railway lines. I hardly ever use them.

Mechanics I Like And Dislike: I like how you can place the purification tokens to keep cubes from being added.

Favorite Art Or Pieces: The backs of the cards.

Strategies: Putting your hospitals away from your train tracks, and just collecting your cards as quickly as you can.

Final Thoughts: This is another fun version of Pandemic. Personally, I still enjoy the original games more, but this one is fun to pull out and play sometimes too.